List of United States representatives in the 11th Congress

This is a complete list of United States representatives during the 11th United States Congress listed by seniority. For the most part, representatives are ranked by the beginning of their terms in office.Delegates are non-voting members and representatives are voting members of the United States House of Representatives.

As an historical article, the districts and party affiliations listed reflect those during the 11th Congress (March 4, 1809 – March 3, 1811). Seats and party affiliations on similar lists for other congresses will be different for certain members.

This article describes the criteria for seniority in the House of Representatives and sets out the list of members by seniority. It is prepared on the basis of the interpretation of seniority applied to the House of Representatives in the current congress. In the absence of information to the contrary, it is presumed that the twenty-first-century practice is identical to the seniority customs used during the 11th Congress.

House seniority Seniority in the House, for representatives with unbroken service, depends on the date on which the members first term began. That date is either the start of the Congress (4 March in odd numbered years, for the era up to and including the 73rd Congress starting in 1933) or the date of a special election during the Congress. Since many members start serving on the same day as others, ranking between them is based on alphabetical order by the last name of the representative.

Representatives in early congresses were often elected after the legal start of the Congress. Such representatives are attributed with unbroken seniority, from the legal start of the congressional term, if they were the first person elected to a seat in a Congress. The date of the election is indicated in a note.

The seniority date is normally taken from the members entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, except where the date given is the legal start of the Congress and the actual election (for someone who was not the first person elected to the seat in that Congress) was later. The date of election is taken from United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997. In a few instances the latter work provides dates, for the start and end of terms, which correct those in the Biographical Directory.

The Biographical Directory normally uses the date of a special election, as the seniority date. However, mostly in early congresses, the date of the member taking his seat can be the one given. The date of the special election is mentioned in a note to the list below, when that date is not used as the seniority date by the Biographical Directory.

Representatives who returned to the House, after having previously served, are credited with service equal to one less than the total number of terms they served. When a representative has served a prior term of less than two terms (i.e. prior term minus one equals less than one), he is ranked above all others whose service begins on the same day.

Leadership In this Congress the only formal leader was the speaker of the House. Two speakership ballots were held on May 22, 1809, and Joseph B. Varnum (DR-MA) was re-elected for a second consecutive term.Annals of Congress, for the date of election

Candidate1st ballot2nd ballotJoseph B. Varnum (DR-MA)6065Nathaniel Macon (DR-NC)3645Timothy Pitkin (F-CT)20 6Charles Goldsborough (F-MD) 1 1Benjamin Howard (DR-KY) 0 1Roger Nelson (DR-MD) 1 1blank ballots 2 0

The title Dean of the House (sometimes known, in the nineteenth century, as Father of the House) was held by the member with the longest continuous service. It was not a leadership position.

Standing committees The House created its first standing committee, on April 13, 1789. There were nine standing committees, listed in the rules initially used by the 11th Congress.

Committees, in this period, were appointed for a session at a time by the speaker.

This list refers to the standing committees of the House in the 11th Congress, the year of establishment as a standing committee, the number of members assigned to the committee and the dates of appointment in each session, the end of the session and its chairman. Chairmen, who were re-appointed after serving in the previous Congress, are indicated by an *.Based on Rule X Organisation of Committees, in the House Rules and Manual for the 112th Congress. For membership and chairmen, see the Journal of the House of Representatives for the 11th Congress for the dates of appointment specified.

The first session was May 22, 1809 – June 28, 1809 (38 days), the second session was November 27, 1809 – May 1, 1810 (156 days) and the third session was December 3, 1810 – March 3, 1811 (91 days).

No.CommitteeFromMembersAppointedChairman1Accounts18053May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809*Nicholas R. Moore (DR-MD)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810William Milnor (F-PA)December 6, 1810 – March 3, 1811Nicholas R. Moore (DR-MD)2Claims17947May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809Richard M. Johnson (DR-KY)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 1811Erastus Root (DR-NY)3Commerce and Manufactures17957May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809*Thomas Newton, Jr. (DR-VA)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 18114District of Columbia18087May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809John Love (DR-VA)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 1811Archibald Van Horne (DR-MD)5Elections17897May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809*William Findley (DR-PA)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 18116Post Office and Post Roads180817May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809*John Rhea (DR-TN)16November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 18117Public Lands18057May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809*Jeremiah Morrow (DR-OH)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 18118Revisal and Unfinished Business17953May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809Henry Southard (DR-NJ)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 18119Ways and Means18027May 23, 1809 – June 28, 1809John W. Eppes (DR-VA)November 28, 1809 – May 1, 1810December 6, 1810 – March 3, 1811

List of representatives by seniority A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 142 members initially elected to the 11th Congress. Other members, who were not the first person elected to a seat but who joined the House during the Congress, are not assigned a number.

One representative-elect was not sworn in, as he did not qualify before he resigned. The list below includes the representative-elect (with name in italics), with the seniority he would have held if he had been sworn in.

Party designations used in this article are DR for Democratic-Republican members and F for Federalist representatives. Designations used for service in the first three congresses are (A) for Anti-Administration members and (P) for Pro-Administration representatives.